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Boston Outlasts Miami In Overtime, Ties Up Eastern Conference Finals

And just like that, we have a series again. After the Thunder tied up the Western Conference Finals Saturday night, Boston came out and defended their home court to do the same, outlasting Miami in a 93-91 overtime win in Game 4. Although the contest was greatly influenced by overzealous refereeing (thanks again, Joey Crawford), it was consistently poor on both sides of the ball and ultimately only robbed the audience of a potentially classic overtime battle as Paul Pierce and LeBron James both fouled out in the game’s extra period.

Boston got off to a fast start, quickly building up a 21-9 advantage behind Pierce and Ray Allen and they led by 14 at the break. The Celtics got huge boosts in the first half and the entire game from Allen, who knocked down four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Boston also got improved performances out of Brandon Bass and Keyon Dooling, who finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Pierce led the Celts with 23 points before fouling out on an off-the-ball foul against Shane Battier, marking the third time he’s fouled out in the past five games. Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists and Kevin Garnett finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. LeBron James once again had a quality first half without getting much help from his teammates, which has been a recurring issue in the past two games and explains why the Heat have had to battle back from double-digit deficits in the second half of their two games in TD Garden. Dwyane Wade went 2-for-11 in the first half and finished with 20 points on a meager 7-of-22 shooting, with one of those misses being a last-second 3-point attempt that would have given Miami the overtime win. Wade had an open look and his poor shooting night certainly didn’t help matters, but Erik Spoelstra should take the majority of the blame for drawing up such a feeble attempt of a play to end the game both in regulation and overtime. I understand the tendency in the NBA to just give the ball to your star player in the clutch and let him pull up for a dramatic jump shot for the win, but how do you not convert down the stretch twice with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the floor?

With LeBron James and Paul Pierce both out of the game, Dwayne Wade missed a last-second 3-point attempt to win the game and gave the Celtics the Game 4 OT win and even the series.

The Heat remained resilient and battled back with Wade and Mario Chalmers stepping up in the third quarter, but couldn’t hold on to a minimal fourth quarter lead after taking momentum back. Chalmers and Udonis Haslem each finished with 12 points but Shane Battier only pitched in six and Mike Miller only had two. LeBron led all scorers again with 29 points and even hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game that would eventually send it to OT. But he didn’t get much help from Wade and got next to nothing from his supporting cast for the second game in a row, which meant a win for the home team. LeBron will also have to deal with the criticism of not being clutch because he passed on the last play in regulation (which is absolutely ridiculous since he hit the three to send it to OT and also because he was TRIPLE-TEAMED on the game’s final possession). After a devastating overtime defeat that was heavily influenced by the referees on both sides, the Miami Heat are now under heavy pressure to reclaim the lead against a team that was seen as banged up and broken before the series started.

Like the Thunder, the underdog Celtics stared a 2-0 deficit in the face and beat it into submission with back-to-back wins on their home floor. Now the Eastern Conference Finals are tied and all the pressure is on Miami to prove that the last two games didn’t matter. But unless Wade and Miami’s supporting cast wakes up and steps up on their home court, the overall balance of the Celtics looks like it has what it takes to get the best of LeBron James. Pierce, Rondo and KG are all pitching in while role players like Bass, Dooling and Allen are outshining Miami’s bench. The Heat could really use Chris Bosh right about now, who has been sitting out since the Heat’s series against Indiana in the second round. Many people take Bosh and what he does for granted, and while it was fine for him to sit out with the abdominal strain when the Heat were up 2-0, now that Boston has put the pressure back on Miami, it might be time for him to suit up again. Because this experienced and veteran Celtics team has proven that they have what it takes to win and they have all the momentum heading into a pivotal Game 5 on the road. But unlike Game 4, hopefully the disgraceful refereeing of the NBA won’t deprive us of anything special again.

Keyon Dooling and Boston’s role guys were huge once again for the Celtics, who now have a shot.